^he  oS 


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ICHANG: 


The  Gateway  to  Western  China 


Being  a "Brief  Study  of  a Typical  Frontier 
Station  in  the  Tdistrict  of  Ffankow.  tVith 
some  account  of  the  work  that  is  being  done 
and  the  work  that  should  be  done 


By  the  Rev.  D.  Trumbull  Huntington 


ICHANG  is  the  most  westerly  station  in  the  District  of  Hankow.  The 
clergy  in  charge  are  the  Rev.  D.  T.  Huntington,  who  succeeded  Dr. 
Collins  in  igoi,  and  the  Rev.  T.  F.  Tsen,  Chinese  priest. 

Last  year  729  public  services  were  held.  The  number  of  baptized  Church 
members  is  156,  and  the  number  of  communicants  74. 


Copies  0/  this  leaflet  may  be  obtained  from  the  Corresponding  Secretary^  281  Fourth 
Avenue^  New  Yorky  asking  for  Leaflet  No.  219. 


First  Edition,  March  ioth,  190?. 


THE  MISSION  HOUSE  AT  ICHANG 


Ichang:  The  Gateway  to  Western  China 

BY  THE  REVEREND  D.  TRUMBULL  HUNTINGTON* 


ICHANG,  Oil  the  Yang-tse  River  one 
thousand  miles  west  of  Shanghai 
and  four  hundred  miles  w’est  of 
Hankow,  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tifully situated  cities  in  the  world.  Five 
miles  to  the  north  the  Yang-tse  emerges 
from  the  last  of  the  gorges.  It  bends 
sharjily  to  the  southwest  as  it  leaves  the 
gorge,  then  turns  again  to  the  south- 
east opposite  the  city  and  rolls  away 
through  lower  mountains  to  the  great 
plain.  To  the  w’est  and  south  and  north 
rise  wild,  picturesque  mountains,  some 
over  five  thousand  feet  high. 

The  city  itself  is  no  more  beautiful 
than  most  Chinese  cities;  it  has,  how- 
ever, some  peculiar  features  of  its  own. 
The  streets  are  rather  broader  than  those 
of  Hankow,  donkeys  and  little  horses  are 
more  common,  and  wheelbarrows  are  al- 
most unknown,  for  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  push  them  over  the  mountain 
paths  that  serve  for  roads.  The  carry- 
ing-pole, with  its  load  susixmded  from 
each  end,  is  the  commonest  means  of 
transportation,  but  coolies  from  the  more 
mountainous  districts  are  also  seen  with 


pack-baskets  on  their  backs  similar  to 
those  used  in  Maine  and  the  Adiron- 
dacks.  Most  of  the  houses  here  are 
washed  dark  gray  instead  of  the  white 
which  is  usual  elsewhere. 

The  chief  importance  of  Ichang  from 
a commercial  point  of  view  is  that  it  is 
the  gate  to  the  rich  province  of  Szchuan. 
The  city  itself  has  only  sixty  or  seventy 
thousand  inhabitants  and  the  surround- 
ing country  is  not  rich.  For  two  hun- 
dred miles  above  us  the  Yang-tse  passes 
through  a series  of  mountain  ranges — 
a wild  and  not  very  populous  country. 
Then  come  the  fertile  valleys  of  Szchuan 
and,  five  hundred  miles  away,  the  open 
port  of  Chung-king.  So  far,  this  section 
of  the  river  has  proved  impracticable  for 
merchant  steamers,  though  several  gun- 
boats— British,  French  and  Japanese — 
are  now  patrolling  Szchuan  waters.  All 
goods  going  to  Szchuan  must,  therefore, 
1x3  transhipped  here,  and  the  rest  of  the 
journey  must  be  made  by  native  junks, 
and  even  then  it  is  attended  with  con- 
siderable risk. 

Our  mission  compound  is  situated  out- 


See  note  at  the  end  of  the  article. 


••THE  LIVELIEST  STREET  IX  THE  CITY” 

merchants  and  women  and  children  and 
beggars — but  chiefly  coolies.  The  stores 
are  decorated  with  handsome  signs  in 
black  and  gilt  and  red  and  green,  and 
within  are  displayed  various  foreign  and 
native  wares — tin  ware,  made  of  old 
kerosene  cans,  native  tobacco  in  whole 
leaves  or  cut  very  fine,  pipes,  medicines, 
rice,  tea,  cotton  cloth,  silk,  pottery,  china 
and  a hundred  other  things.  The  tea 
houses  are  crowded  with  men,  usually 
laughing  and  talking,  but  sometimes  dis- 
puting and  quarrelling. 

Inside  the  city  gates  the  shops  are 
not  so  good,  nor  is  the  street  so  crowded. 
Over  the  gate  is  a temple  to  the  god  of 
war,  and  a little  further  on  an  “Eastern 
Hell  Temple.”  In  this  are  to  be  seen  in 
figures  one  or  two  feet  high  all  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  Buddhist  hell,  or  perhaps 
we  should  rather  call  it  purgatory,  as, 
after  passing  through  the  ten  halls,  or 
as  many  of  them  as  they  deserve,  the 
souls  are  expected  to  drink  some  tea  with 
lyCthean  properties,  and  then  come  back 
to  the  upper  world.  Most  of  the  tor- 
ments Dante  saw.  and  some  he  did  not 
see,  are  to  be  found  there.  Besides  these 
two  larger  temples  we  pass  twelve  smaller 
temples  to  local  divinities  between  the 


side  the  South  Gate,  where  are  all  the 
foreign  houses,  except  that  of  the 
Swedish  Mission.  The  ehapel  and  schools 
are  about  three-quarters  of  a mile  away, 
inside  the  city.  Passing  out  of  the 
compound,  you  leave  a bad  looking,  bad 
smelling  duck  pond  on  the  left  and  go 
first  between  some  old,  tumble-down  mud 
houses,  and  then  between  some  good  new 
houses.  Then  you  turn  to  the  left  and 
pass  a sacred  tree,  which  is  worshipped 
by  many  and  hung  with  votive  offer- 
ings. Some  are  round  pieces  of  wood 
witli  one  word  “Divine”  painted  on  them. 
Others  are  oblong,  inscribed  with  the 
words  “Prayer  will  certainly  be  an- 
swered,” or  other  pious  saying.  We  go 
through  an  alley,  in  which  all  the  houses 
but  two  are  opium  dens,  to  the  South 
Gate,  Main  Street.  This  is  the  liveliest 
street  in  the  city — or  rather  out  of  it. 
It  is  usually  crowded  with  coolies  and 


THE  SACRED  TREE  AT  ICHANG 

IVorshipped  with  prayer  and  incense  by  the  Chinese 
as  a tree  inhabited  by  a divinity 


compound  and  the  chapel.  These  are 
eight  or  ten  feet  high  and  from  four  to 
ten  feet  square,  and  always  contain  two 
very  respectable  looking  old  people — a 
man  and  a woman — usually  dressed  in 
gilt  but  sometimes  in  blue,  and  often  at- 
tended by  two  servants.  I have  never 
gone  to  the  chapel  in  the  evening  with- 
out seeing  candles  and  incense  burning 
before  some  of  these  shrines. 

The  rest  of  the  walk  to  the  chapel  is 
through  a 
fashionable 
re  sidence 
street,  where 
some  of  the 
richest 
people  in 
I c h a n g 
live.  The 
line  of  blank 
wall  which 
i n d i cates 
large  houses 
is  broken  by 
a black- 
smith’s shop, 
a paint  shop 
and  several 
other  not 
very  attrac- 
tive looking 
stores  — in- 
cluding two 
or  three 
opium  dens 
— which 
would  not 
be  found  on  such  a street  in  an  American 
city.  There  are  also  certain  stalls  of 
sweetmeat  sellers  and  fortune  tellers. 

The  people  of  Ichang  seem  to  be  more 
religious  than  those  of  the  cities  lower 
down  in  the  plain.  Besides  the  little 
shrines  to  local  divinities  mentioned 
above,  there  are  many  larger  temples, 
some  in  the  city  and  more  in  the  country, 
some  in  the  valleys  and  more  on  the 
hills,  and  some  on  the  tops  of  the  most 
precipitous  peaks.  The  trade  in  in- 
cense and  candles  is  large. 

All  this  religion  has  not  produced  a 
great  amount  of  organized  benevolence. 


There  are  two  or  three  benevolent  guilds, 
but  their  works  are  small.  One  dis- 
tributes considerable  free  rice  to  the 
poor  and  another  dispenses  some  medi- 
cines. There  are  no  free  schools,  no  hos- 
pitals, and  of  course  no  attempt  at  car- 
ing for  the  deaf,  the  blind  or  the  insane. 
The  people  seem  slower  than  the  people 
of  Hankow ; they  stare  at  the  foreigner 
more  stupidly,  and  are  slower  at  taking 
in  an  idea.  Opium  smoking  is  more 

common, 
too.  This 
is  to  be  ac- 
counted for 
partly  by 
the  large 
pop  ulation 
of  Szchuan 
boatmen  and 
partly  by 
the  fact 
that  opium 
i s cheaper 
here,  since 
most  of  it 
comes  down 
from  Szchu- 
an and  a 
little  has 
been  raised 
in  this 
vicinity 
during  the 
last  few 
years.  Our 
day  - school 
teacher 
from  Shasi,  to  whom  I was  try- 
ing to  give  a little  instruction  in 
geography  during  his  last  vacation, 
characterized  the  people  of  the  province 
by  saying  that  those  in  the  eastern  part 
were  more  false  and  deceitful  and  those 
in  the  west  more  fierce  and  brutal.  How- 
ever, they  are  not  all  bad. 

Another  feature  of  the  place  is  the 
beggars.  Relatively  to  the  size  of  the 
city,  they  are  more  numerous  here  than 
in  any  town  T know.  This  may  be  part- 
ly due  to  the  poverty  of  the  surrounding 
country,  but  I think  much  more  to  the 
prevalence  of  opium  smoking.  And 


such  miser- 
a b 1 e folk ! 

Last  winter 
there  were 
two  or  three 
who  pro- 
gressed 
along  the 
street  not  by 
walking  (I 
am  not  sure 
whether 
they  could 
walk  or 
not)  but 
b y rolling 
along  in  the 
mud  and 
tilth.  Others 
sit  beside 
the  street 
and  pound 
their  heads 
on  the  stone 
paving,  call- 
ing on  the 
p 3 S S G r s 
by  to  give 
them  mon- 
ey. “Oh, 
good  p e 0 - 
pie” — whack 
— “I  am  blind” — whack — “Lay  up  merit” 
— whack — and  so  on  all  day  long.  Others 
adopt  the  more  commonplace  method  of 
standing  in  the  shop  or  house  doors 
shivering  and  calling  for  alms  until  the 
benevolent  shopkeeper  gives  them  a few 
cash  to  get  rid  of  them.  But  whatever 
their  method,  they  are  all  about  equally 
filthy  and  wretched  and  degraded.  Any 
money  they  can  get  will  probably  go  for 
opium.  The  worst  toughs  in  our  Amer- 
ican cities  seem  comparatively  hopeful. 

We  have  wandered  a long  way  from 
the  chapel.  It  faces  this  fashionable 
street— though  not  the  best  part  of  it — 
and  the  back  door  opens  on  the  city  wall 
where  it  overlooks  the  river.  On  enter- 
ing, we  turn  to  the  left  into  the  guest- 
room. From  the  guest-room  we  go  into 
the  church,  a very  pretty  Gothico- 
Chinese  structure.  The  altar  rail. 


lectern  and 
font  of 
carved  lime- 
stone  are 
particularly 
fine.  With 
the  gallery 
over  the 
guest  - room 
it  can  be 
arranged  to 
seat  over 
two  h u n - 
dred,  and  it 
is  so  built 
that  when 
we  need  to 
enlarge  w e 
can  tear 
down  the 
p a r t i t i on 
and  throw 
the  guest- 
room into 
the  church, 
i n creasing 
the  seating 
capacity  by 
sixty  or 
seventy.  If 
on  entering 
we  do  not 
turn  to  the  left  we  go  through  a small 
court  into  the  boys’  schoolroom.  Beyond 
this  is  Mr.  Tsen’s  guest-room,  which  is 
also  the  women’s  guest-room.  To  the  right 
is  the  kitchen  and  to  the  left  the  girls’ 
school.  Upstairs  are  Mr.  Tsen’s  study 
and  bedrooms  and  behind  is  the  city 
wall. 

Our  work  was  started  fourteen  years 
ago,  and  while  progress  has  never  been 
rapid,  it  has  been  fairly  steady.  We  now 
own  property  adequate  to  our  present 
needs,  but  allowing  very  little  room  for 
growth.  If  the  increase  next  year  is  as 
great  as  it  has  been  this  year  we  shall 
be  decidedly  crowded. 

Recently  we  decided  to  open  a girls’ 
school,  and  were  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  the  services  of  an  old  pupil  of 
Mrs.  Graves’s  as  teacher.  We  have  fif- 
teen girls  studying  daily,  learning  to 


read  and  learning  some  Christian  truth. 
The  teaching  is  not  all  we  could  wish, 
but  it  is  a vast  improvement  on  no 
teaching  at  all.  I know  of  no  women  in 
the  Ichang  church  who  could  read  before 
they  entered  the  church. 

Last  year  there  were  eighteen  boys  in 
the  boys’  school  and  I found  them  very 
well  taught.  They  study  Chinese — still 
largely  on  the  old  memorize-hut-do-not- 
try-to-understand  system,  but  with  im- 
provements — arithmetic,  geography, 
English — the  older  boys  only — and 
Christian  doctrine.  We  found  that  by 
employing  one  of  the  older  hoys  as  a 


desks  would  not,  I fear,  meet  with  the 
approval  of  any  school  committee  in  the 
United  States.  They  are  flat,  and  not 
very  well  made,  and  the  benches  have  no 
backs,  but  they  have  some  relation  te 
the  size  of  the  pupil,  they  enable  the 
teacher  to  tell  whether  he  is  in  his  place 
or  not,  and  they  make  it  possible  to  in- 
sist that  each  one  keep  his  place  moder- 
ately neat. 

These  schools  must  in  the  future, 
even  more  than  in  the  past,  be  the  feeders 
for  our  higher  schools.  There  are  now 
four  Ichang  hoys  in  St.  John’s  College, 
and  four  in  Boone  School.  The  girls’ 


THE  CHANCEL  OF  THE  ICHANG  CHURCH 


pupil-teacher  we  could  increase  the  num- 
ber to  forty  without  making  the  work  too 
hard.  We  have  a number  on  the  wait- 
ing list,  and  next  year  hope  to  increase 
still  further.  The  school  fees  pay  nearly 
half  the  expenses,  and  I think  in  a few 
years  we  can  make  it  self-supporting. 

We  have  tried  a little  experiment  in 
desks  and  benches.  In  the  ordinary 
Chinese  school  there  are  long  desks  and 
benches,  all  of  about  the  same  size,  and 
that  rather  high  for  grovm  people.  The 
little  ones  sit  there  with  their  heads  just 
over  the  top  of  the  desk,  and  their  feet 
a foot  or  more  from  the  floor.  Discipline 
is  not  very  strict  and  you  could  never 
tell  just  where  a boy  was  if  he  had  not 
a desk  of  his  own  to  sit  at.  Our  new 


school  is  new,  so  that  there  are  no 
graduates  from  it  in  other  schools,  be- 
cause there  are  no  graduates. 

Every  Wednesday  evening  there  is  a 
meeting  of  from  thirty  to  fortj'-five  men 
in  the  guest-room.  A few  verses  from 
the  Bible  are  given  out  as  a subject  and 
two  men  are  appointed  as  leaders.  Mr. 
Tsen  opens  the  meeting  with  some  of  the 
Prayer  Book  collects.  Then  the  chapter 
in  which  the  text  occurs  is  read,  each 
taking  a verse.  A little  over  half  the 
men  take  part  in  this,  and  some  others 
who  are  not  sure  enough  of  the  char- 
acters to  read  aloud  follow  in  their 
Bibles.  Then  the  two  leaders  expound 
the  passage  and  anyone  else  who  has  a 
word  of  exhortation  is  given  a chance 


to  speak.  The  meet- 
ing then  closes  with 
prayer.  The  men 
stay  for  a little  while 
<and  I make  attempts 
at  conversation,  but 
they  mostly  answer 
in  monosyllables. 

The  Ichang  people 
are  harder  to  talk  to 
than  any  other  peo- 
jile  I know.  On  Fri- 
day evenings  there 
are  meetings  for 
catechumens,  and  on 
other  evenings  a few 
come  to  learn  to  read. 

There  is  a decided 
movement  toward 
Christianity  in  the 
city  at  present,  com- 
ing, doubtless,  from 
a variety  of  causes, 
among  w h i c h the 
somewhat  ambiguous 
reform  edicts  recently  issued  deserve  a 
prominent  place.  I fear  the  movement 
is  not  of  a purely  religious  nature. 
Whatever  the  cause,  it  is  our  oppor- 
tunity. We  are  very  careful  whom  we 
baptize — enquirers  must  study  for  at 
least  six  months  before  they  are  admitted 
catechumens,  and  then  for  a year  more 
before  they  are  baptized ; but  we  are  glad 
to  teach  all  who  come.  The  number  of 
men  attending  service  has  increased  from 


about  thirty  to  over 
sixtj'  during  the  last 
six  months,  and  we 
have  found  it  neces- 
s a r y to  put  the 
school-boys  in  the 
gallery.  On  the 
women’s  side  of  the 
church,  I am  sorry 
to  say,  the  attend- 
ance has  remained 
almost  stationary, 
except  for  the  ad- 
dition of  the  girls’ 
school.  F rom  ten 
to  twenty-five  wom- 
en appear,  according 
to  the  weather.  We 
have  no  Bible-wom- 
an,  nor  any  imme- 
diate prospect  of 
getting  one,  though 
we  may  be  able  to 
manage  it  in  a year 
or  two. 

What  do  we  want  for  Ichang?  We 
want  to  develop  the  schools.  For  that 
we  need  more  room.  We  can  move  the 
boys’  school  out  to  this  compound,  but 
that  would  not  be  very  convenient.  The 
properties  on  either  side  of  us  should  sell 
for  about  $1,000  (the  original  price  of 
our  present  property),  but  one  of  our 
neighbors  who  wants  to  sell  is  so  im- 
pressed with  the  wealth  of  the  foreigner 
that  he  asks  about  $2,800.  We  can  wait. 


THE  GIRLS’  SCHOOL  THE  BOYS’  SCHOOL 


But  wherever  tlie  schools  are,  we  want 
as  good  primarj'  sehools  as  there  are 
anywhere  in  China.  We  do  not  want  a 
liigh-sehool  for  some  time  to  come.  We 
can  leave  that  work  for  Wuchang  and 
Shanghai. 

We  want  to  develop  the  women’s  work. 
As  I said,  there  has  been  almost  no  in- 
crease in  the  attendance  of  women  on 
the  services,  and  those  who  come  are 
lame  n tably 
ignorant. 

Foot  - bind- 
ing is  also 
practically 
universal,  so 
that  the  in- 
tellectual 
cramping  of 
the  head 
and  the 
physical 
cramping  of 
the  feet 
hold  the 
w o m e n in 
c o n t i n u al 
bondage. 

We  need 
some  for- 
eign ladies  to 
help  break 
the  chains. 

We  want  an  energetic,  self-support- 
ing, self-propagating  church.  The  con- 
gregations have  increased,  which  is  cer- 
tainly some  sign  of  a missionary  spirit 
on  the  part  of  the  converts.  Owing  to 
this  increase  in  the  congregations  and 
the  introduction  of  a system  of  pledges 
the  offerings  have  increased  nearly  three- 
fold during  the  last  six  months;  but  even 
so,  w’e  are  only  giving  about  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  ordinary  running  expenses. 


We  want  to  evangelize  the  surround- 
ing country.  Along  the  Yang-tse,  be- 
tween here  and  Shasi,  the  Swedish  mis- 
sion and  the  Scotch  mission  have  some 
work,  but  there  are  still  many  places 
where  there  are  no  missions  in  which 
it  may  be  advisable  for  us  to  open  work. 
To  the  north  and  south  and  west  the 
country  is  more  mountainous  and  less 
thickly  peopled,  but  still  there  are  a great 

many  peo- 
ple there  to 
w h 0 rn  we 
are  sent  to 
preach  the 
Gospel. 
West  up  the 
Yang-tse  for 
about  a hun- 
d r e d and 
fifty  miles, 
north  and 
south  for  a 
much  great- 
er distance 
the  country 
is  absolutely 
u n w orked 
save  for 
three  or 
four  Rom- 
an Catho- 
lic stations. 
In  this  region  there  are  no  large  cities, 
but  there  are  a great  many  towns  and 
countless  villages.  It  is  a territory  of 
about  twenty  thousand  square  miles,  and 
certainly  not  under  a million  inhabitants 
No  other  Christian  body  is  doing  any- 
thing for  this  part  of  the  country  and  it 
is  time  that  the  Church  did  something. 
For  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of 
souls,  let  us  enter  in  and  possess  the  land. 
For  this  we  want  more  men. 


The  Re  I'.  Mr.  Tsen,  Priest 


THE  CHINESE  HELPEKS  AT  ICHANG 
Mr.  Tsen,  the  Catechist  Mr,  Liu,  the  Teacher 


The  Rev.  D.  T.  H untimjtan  is  a graduate  of  Vale  Vnirersity  and  of  the  Uerkeley  Divinity 
school.  lie  volunteered  for  service  in  China  in  /*».!,  but  was  informed  by  the  Board  of 
Managers  that  it  was  impossible  to  send  him  to  the  field,  owing  to  lack  of  funds.  The  members 
of  the  Church  Students’  Missionary  Association  thereupon  guaranteed  Mr.  Huntington’s 
support , and  he  reached  China  in  September,  isss.  He  wen',  at  once  to  Hankow,  and,  after 
having  qualified  himself  by  faithful  work,  was  placed  in  charge  of  St.  .Tohn’s  congregation.  It 
was  largely  through  his  efforts  and  tinder  his  direction  that  the  new  St.  .lohn’s,  Hankow,  was 
built.  On  his  return  to  China  in /so/ from  his  first  furlough  in  the  United  States,  Mr  Hunt- 
ington was  sent  to  take  charge  of  the  vacant  station  at  Ichang. 


